


Bulletproof

by Tricochet



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: M/M, Response to 3x05
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2019-02-04 15:23:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12773868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tricochet/pseuds/Tricochet
Summary: When James is shot, Winn has to confront his feelings and his fear.





	Bulletproof

Winn's panic rises even more as he sees James sitting on a stretcher. He's at least able to sit up, and he smiles at Winn as he's carried into the DEO. 

"Winn, hi," James says. He mostly sounds strained and tired, more like he'd had a bad day at CatCo than been shot. 

Winn stares at the blood pooling through his shirt. 

"The painkillers are-intense," James says, trying to gesture with his good arm. 

Someone asks Winn to help with the stretcher so they can get ready for the operation, and he holds onto one corner with shaky fingers. They keep walking carefully to the closest medical room. 

"How are you?" James asks Winn.

"I'm not the one who was shot, so I'm objectively doing a lot better than I could be," Winn says. He's really not doing very well at all. He'd been an anxious wreck since he heard over the comms and on the news that his best friend had been shot, but he's not likely to tell James that. 

"I can tell when you're upset, Winn," James says. 

"Let's get you un-shot first. Then we can talk about me." Winn keeps his head turned behind him as the stretcher rounds a corner. The team passes through a doorway and sets it down. 

The nurse who had ran ahead already has a bunch of scary-looking pointy things out. Winn doesn't know what they do, but he's at least 90 percent sure that Alex Danvers has threatened him with every single one. 

The nurses start washing their hands, and James watches from the table.

"Can I stay?" Winn asks.

The doctor shrugs. "If James is okay with it."

James nods and smiles at Winn. 

"And, James, we're going to make you fall asleep while we take it out, okay?"

"Alright," James says. They put a mask over his face and tell him to breathe. Winn can see his eyes start to shut. 

The doctor starts checking that she has all the tools for the operation ready. She runs through the list of names that sound like torture devices to Winn. 

They cut James's shirt off, and Winn gasps. He hadn't seen the wound against his skin before. He can see the definition of James's muscular torso, and the blood collecting in the dips. 

Winn has to look away as the team starts taking the bullet out. He keeps his gaze on James's face. Winn can still see his features through the plastic, and James looks relaxed. He watches James breathe until one of the nurses tells him it's over.

"Did it go okay?" Winn asks. His voice is still shaking as he looks over at James. He's still shirtless, but the blood is cleaned up and his shoulder would is bandaged. The mask is off, but he's still asleep.

"Yes, he's gonna be alright. We're moving him to a bed, if you want to stay with him."

"Okay," Winn says, and follows the team into the elevator. 

"It'll take him a few hours to sleep off the gas," someone says. "Are you gonna stay with him?"

"Yeah," Winn says. He helps move James out of the elevator and into a bed. Then he sits in a comfy chair with a nice blanket and watches James's chest go up and down. 

 

 

 

 

"Unh!" Winn says as he sits up in the chair. 

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" James says. Winn looks over at James and is relieved to see him sit up.

Winn stands up to move over closer to James's bed. He would have been as close as he could have been all night if he hadn't worried about violating James's personal space while he was asleep. 

"I'm glad I'm awake. Have you been up long?"

"Just a few seconds."

"How are you feeling?" Winn asks James.

"Oh, I'm a little sore, but I think the painkillers are still in effect. Anyway, you said we could talk about you."

"Me?" Winn asks.

"Yeah. You seemed pretty rattled last night."

Winn almost cries on the spot. "James, I was just worried about you. You don't have to worry about me worrying about you."

"Winn, what were you worried about?"

"That you'd die! And I just thought about how I should have sewed Kevlar into all of your clothes, and how I should have been there, or should have done something."

"It wasn't your fault," James says. 

"I just didn't want you to die when you didn't know-" Winn pauses. The pitch of his voice had been rising and he sounded like he was fighting tears.

"I didn't know what?" James prompts him. 

"Nothing. You just mean a lot to me. You're special, you know?"

Winn can tell that James isn't buying it entirely. He's looking at Winn like he's amused by something. 

"Okay, because when I was shot, I was just thinking about how I didn't want to die before I talked to you about something."

"What was it?" Winn asks.

"You're special to me too, Winn. I love you. And not-I mean, uh, not like brothers."

"You mean you 'like like' me?" Winn jokes. 

"Yeah," James says. "I mean, if you don't swing that way or whatever, it's totally cool. I just want you to know in case I get shot again and don't survive that one."

Winn doesn't think he's ever seen James that babbling and nervous.

"James, you're not gonna die. I'm not gonna let that happen. Not on my limited-edition Star Trek watch. And I don't want to be your brother either. I may or may not have had a thing for you since we met."

"What's with you and middle school terminology for crushes?" James jokes.

Winn smirks. "Well, I never got to see the person I had a crush on in middle school shirtless."

James blushes. "You get to kiss them?"

"No?" Winn says, genuinely confused about what James is asking.

"Uh, I, do you want to kiss me?" James asks shyly. 

Winn moves to sit next to him and takes his hand. He shuts his eyes and bends his head down. 

He can feel James's breath before he kisses him. Neither of them smell the best from the lack of opportunity to brush their teeth, but it doesn't matter to Winn. James is calm, but Winn can sense his eagerness. 

They kiss, and Winn feels James's heart beat under his hand. 

"I'm so glad you're alive," Winn whispers into James's lips.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Also, thank you for tolerating any errors or typos because I did not proofread this because it's a school night. And stay tuned for sometime, hopefully soon, when I finally finish my Winn/James wedding WIP. It's already at 14000 words, so, uh, I hope it'll be done soon so I can move on to other projects.


End file.
